Yahoo Movies The Walking Dead recap: Welcome to the Commonwealth
After seasons of teasing and will-they-won't-they theories, we finally get to see inside the Commonwealth, the advanced society from the Walking Dead comics that's run by one Governor Pamela Milton.
The Commonwealth was set up shortly after the outbreak by the Miltons, Pamela and her late husband, as a safe haven. We learn that it began just as "a few secure blocks" but has been growing ever since. Now, it encompasses an entire community, perhaps more (there was a train station, after all), filled with bakeries, outdoor yoga classes, a horse-pulled ice cream truck, and more.
Money is also a thing here. Stephanie pays for an ice cream cone for Eugene as they walk about the town, a stark contrast to what we saw in the subways with Daryl as he gazed upon the remains of a man clinging to a briefcase filled with money. There's government, a set of laws, a legal system, a police force, hospitals, elderly care, and so much more. Inside these walls, it's as if the outbreak never happened.
Josh Stringer/AMC Josh Hamilton as Lance Hornsby on 'The Walking Dead' season 11
Everyone upon entry into the Commonwealth is given a job assignment and housing. Eugene gets teacher, Princess gets retail worker, Ezekiel gets a gig in animal control, but Yumiko just gets a letter from the Office of State Affairs asking for a meeting to discuss "opportunities within our great community." This isn't exactly the best of news, since the gang came here not to stay permanently but to get help for their family and friends back home.
Eugene, Princess, and Ezekiel quickly cause trouble. Apparently, it'll take weeks before they can get an audience with anyone of authority to discuss bringing aide to Alexandria, so Stephanie offers to help them at least get in touch with the folks back home through their radio systems. But they kind of have to break in illegally to the communications departure to do it.
Princess tries flirting with Mercer to distract him, and it seems to be working until she mentions how pretty his eyelashes are. He and his forces must in on Eugene as he's in the midst of speaking with Rosita. The trio troublemakers are processed separately from Stephanie, where it's explained to them they'll go before a judge and, if found guilty, will be released in a zone far beyond their territory. At that moment, Stephanie busts in with Lance Hornsby, the Commonwealth's director of operations who appears in the welcome orientation video. It seems he's going to help, but Stephanie warns that they'll have to pay for their crimes one way or another.
Meanwhile, Yumiko reunites with her brother, Tomi, who's been living his best life working in the local bakery. He's been at the Commonwealth pretty much since the outbreak started, which must be nice. However, he seemly hid the fact that he was a surgeon from the community. He's not about that life anymore. He's a baker. If they knew his background, they might make him work in the hospitals. That's the assumption from his shushing Yumiko when she brings it up.
Josh Stringer/AMC The Commonwealth in 'The Walking Dead' season 11
Everyone else isn't doing so hot. Judith is getting bullied by these punks, but she quickly reminds them that she has a sword and they don't.
Negan and Maggie are having best time together...
...
... Thought we had you fooled. Just kidding, they hate each other's guts. They make it to the rendezvous point where the cache of supplies is. Negan wants to go home with the supplies, Maggie wants to wait for her people. They fight about it, but then the decision is made for them when Gabriel and Elijah walk through the door. So, they wait.
Aaron, on the other hand, is having a really bad time. He's been plagued by dreams of failing to protect Gracie from attackers. He's becoming just as short-fused and aggressive as Carol used to be, like five minutes earlier. (She did a quick about-face.) After walkers break through the walls at Alexandria, he takes a small group and goes to check out the remains at Hilltop. He finds one of the Whisperers there and they interrogate him for information.
Lydia tries vouching for this man, named Keith, but Aaron is not having it. They drag him to the cellar, thinking they can jail him until they figure something out, but they find more Whisperers. They're all clearly scared and just trying to survive, but Aaron takes this as Keith lying to them. Jerry joins his side when he finds Nabila's scarf among their belongings. He reminds them that they were there that day Alexandria burned to the ground and the Whisperers killed their family.
Aaron later tortures Keith for information that he clearly doesn't have, going so far to let a walker bite his hand. That's apparently too much for Carol, who puts down the walker and tells Aaron to cool it. Keith, allegedly not enraged by Aaron's actions or the fact that he has to cut off his hand to stop the infection from spreading, gives them a piece of information: he say Connie survive the cave collapse and says the last time he saw her was in the woods nearby. So, presumably, we'll find out what she's been up to next week.
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